Food Culture in the Near East, Middle East, and North Africa (Food Culture around the World)

199 Pages·2004·11.4 MB·English

by  Peter Heine

Food Culture in the
Near East, Middle East,
and North Africa
PETER HEINE
GREENWOOD PRESS
Food Culture in the
Near East, Middle East, and North Africa
Recent Titles in
Food Cultures around the World
Food Culture in Japan
Michael Ashkenazi and Jeanne Jacob
Food Culture in India
Colleen Taylor Sen
Food Culture in China
Jacqueline M. Newman
Food Culture in Great Britain
Laura Mason
Food Culture in Italy
Fabio Parasecoli
Food Culture in Spain
Xavier F. Medina
Food Culture in the
Near East, Middle East,
and North Africa
PETER HEINE
Food Culture around the World
Ken Albala, Series Editor
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut · London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heine, Peter.
Food culture in the Near East, Middle East, and north Africa / Peter Heine.
p. cm. — (Food culture around the world, ISSN 1545–2638)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–313–32956–7 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Food habits—Middle East. 2. Food habits—Africa, North. 3. Food preferences—
Middle East. 4. Food preferences—Africa, North. 5. Food—Religious aspects. 6. Middle
East—Social life and customs. 7. Africa, North—Social life and customs. I. Title.
II. Series.
GT2853.M628H45 2004
394.1’2’0956—dc22 2004021838
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.
Copyright © 2004 by Peter Heine
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be
reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004021838
ISBN: 0–313–32956–7
ISSN: 1545–2638
First published in 2004
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the
Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Illustrations by J. Susan Cole Stone.
The publisher has done its best to make sure the instructions and/or recipes in this book
are correct. However, users should apply judgment and experience when preparing reci-
pes, especially parents and teachers working with young people. The publisher accepts no
responsibility for the outcome of any recipe included in this volume.
Contents
Series Foreword by Ken Albala vii
Preface ix
Timeline xi
1. Geographical, Historical, and Cultural Overview 1
2. Ingredients 19
3. Cooking and the Kitchen 71
4. Typical Meals 99
5. Eating Out 119
6. Special Occasions 139
7. Diet and Health 159
Glossary 167
Selected Bibliography 169
Index 173
The Middle East and North Africa map appears on page 184

Series Foreword
The appearance of the Food Culture around the World series marks a
defi nitive stage in the maturation of Food Studies as a discipline to reach
a wider audience of students, general readers, and foodies alike. In com-
prehensive interdisciplinary reference volumes, each on the food culture
of a country or region for which information is most in demand, a remark-
able team of experts from around the world offers a deeper understanding
and appreciation of the role of food in shaping human culture for a whole
new generation. I am honored to have been associated with this project
as series editor.
Each volume follows a series format, with a chronology of food-related
dates and narrative chapters entitled Introduction, Historical Overview,
Major Foods and Ingredients, Cooking, Typical Meals, Eating Out, Spe-
cial Occasions, and Diet and Health. Each also includes a glossary, bibli-
ography, resource guide, and illustrations.
Finding or growing food has of course been the major preoccupation of
our species throughout history, but how various peoples around the world
learn to exploit their natural resources, come to esteem or shun specifi c
foods and develop unique cuisines reveals much more about what it is
to be human. There is perhaps no better way to understand a culture, its
values, preoccupations and fears, than by examining its attitudes toward
food. Food provides the daily sustenance around which families and com-
munities bond. It provides the material basis for rituals through which
people celebrate the passage of life stages and their connection to divinity.
viii Series Foreword
Food preferences also serve to separate individuals and groups from each
other, and as one of the most powerful factors in the construction of iden-
tity, we physically, emotionally, and spiritually become what we eat.
By studying the foodways of people different from ourselves we also
grow to understand and tolerate the rich diversity of practices around the
world. What seems strange or frightening among other people becomes
perfectly rational when set in context. It is my hope that readers will gain
from these volumes not only an aesthetic appreciation for the glories of
the many culinary traditions described, but also ultimately a more pro-
found respect for the peoples who devised them. Whether it is eating New
Year’s dumplings in China, folding tamales with friends in Mexico, or
going out to a famous Michelin-starred restaurant in France, understand-
ing these food traditions helps us to understand the people themselves.
As globalization proceeds apace in the twenty-fi rst century is it also
more important than ever to preserve unique local and regional traditions.
In many cases these books describe ways of eating that have already begun
to disappear or have been seriously transformed by modernity. To know
how and why these losses occur today also enables us to decide what tradi-
tions, whether from our own heritage or that of others, we wish to keep
alive. These books are thus not only about the food and culture of peoples
around the world, but also about ourselves and who we hope to be.
Ken Albala
University of the Pacifi c
Preface
My previous researching and writing about cooking, eating, and drink-
ing in the Near and Middle East and North Africa mostly concerned the
medieval period. Traveling in most countries of the region for more than
30 years, my wife, Ina, and I also became acquainted with the living form
of this cuisine. We frequented marketplaces and hotel kitchens, private
homes and cooking schools—often much to the astonishment of the peo-
ple working there, who were surprised that Westerners were interested in
their cuisine and profession. We started to collect as many cookbooks on
Near and Middle Eastern and North African food as possible, and tried
many of the recipes. Then, two years ago, Ken Albala asked me to write
about modern foodways in the Near and Middle East and North Africa.
My positive response to that offer was quick, although this is the fi rst book
I have written in English, and it was Wendi Schnaufer who was always
encouraging me in that diffi cult task and giving advice. To both of them,
a very warm thank you. Many questions that arose during the process of
writing could not be answered by sitting at the PC or thumbing through
cookbooks. As I could not travel to the region recently, I had to rely on
many friends who answered my questions with great patience. Most im-
portant among them were Mona Abaza, Anke Bentzin, Bert Fragner, Gud-
run Harrer, Riem Spielhaus, and Aslam Syed. Again, my wife, Ina, saw
to it that I was as free as possible to write this book, and without her, the
writing would not have come to an end.